8:00am

Today is my 5th author signing in 2 years, the San Francisco Golden Gate Author Event, which mostly consists of writers in my genre, contemporary romance, and its subgenres, like paranormal or YA. It doesn’t start until late morning, so I squeeze in a coffee and few hundred words before I have to head over to the hotel.

10:45am

Set up takes about half an hour & I’ve been assigned an assistant, who helps me construct my banner and lay out my books. (I’ve brought 8 titles, so it’s harder than it looks to display them all.) Also on my table: my iPad, for my book trailer & mailing list, and to accept credit cards; tote bags, which are a great advertisement for an event like this; swag like rack cards, business cards, and buttons.Continue reading →

Thank goodness for eBooks! When the power went out at my apartment over a weekend earlier this winter, I’d luckily already downloaded a fantastic book onto my eReader–Book Country member Jessica Hawkins‘s COME UNDONE . The first in a trilogy called They Cityscape Series, COME UNDONE is the story of a young, happily married magazine journalist, Olivia, who finds herself inexplicably but overwhelmingly drawn to a successful, mysterious architect named David.

In fact, instead of me summarizing the book, why don’t I just have you watch the trailer. That’s what sent me straight to buying the book!

I know, right?! Now you see why I ended spending all weekend reading COME UNDONE by the backlight of my eReader! I didn’t even notice when the power came back on.

Anyway, I became an immediate fan of the Cityscape Series and of Jessica, and I wanted to interview her for our Author Spotlight this week because I just love what she’s doing: her books are riveting, and I love the way she’s promoting the books and connecting with fans.

***

LS: Tell us about the amazing Kickstarter campaign you did to support your writing of the Cityscape Series.

JH: Kickstarter ended up being about much more than just meeting a monetary goal. The amount of self-promoting I did was directly related to my success, which would also become true of being a self-published author. I never would’ve raised the money if not for friends and family, so it forced me to say, “Here’s what I’m doing with my life. I’m so committed to this that I’m asking you to bet on me.” Making that declaration was one of the most difficult things I did last year.

As far as the process itself, the best tip I can give, especially in publishing, is to utilize your network. Every dollar I raised came from friends, family or the network I’d been building through self-publishing. Even though I wrote a press release, even though I reached out to crowdfunding sites and my alma mater via e-mail and Twitter, I received hardly any attention outside my immediate network.

I also advise setting aside enough time to prepare, plan and promote your campaign before you launch. It took me about a month to construct a month-long campaign because I was continually revising my delivery and my rewards tiers. Don’t just slap something together and expect people to contribute because it means a lot to you. Show them why you’re worth their hard-earned money.

By the way, all the above advice also applies to self-publishing your books.